On Earth Pony Magic (Pony Magic Theory, Part 1) · 4:26am Mar 1st, 2016
art by TheUnununium
I thought it might be fun this week to explore some ideas about ponies and their inherent magic.
At the end of Season 5, Pinkie Pie made the interestingly-worded observation that Starlight Glimmer must be “pretty magical” to have pulled off what she did. While I dismissed this at first as Pinkie playing Captain Obvious for the sake of exposition, I found the phrasing curious.
The Season 4 finale confirmed what a lot of us considered canon long before that point in the show: the pegasi’s ability to fly is magical. And furthermore, all three pony breeds had their own inherent magic.
Now, I am not interpreting alicorns as a fourth breed of pony with their own inherent magic. Rather, I view them as an amalgamation of the three breeds, possessing their combined magic. Would you consider this a fair presentation?
Viewing alicorns this way, they possess the spellcasting abilities of unicorns, the magical powers of pegasi which enable (amongst other things) flight, and… whatever earth pony magic is.
I have some thoughts on that. (In addition, I have some ideas on “pretty magical” ponies. That will be in the next part.)
Inspired by It’s a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door by Jetfire
art by Sevireth
YouTube browsing brought me to this older video by ILoveKimPossibleAlot. I got quite a kick out of it, but it also got me thinking.
The exact nature of earth pony magic is poorly defined. In the episode, Celestia refers to the earth pony’s magic as their “strength” saying, “without their strength, they will not be able to tend the land.” However, this is incongruous with what we have seen on the show.
We have certainly seen impressive strength from a few specific earth ponies. But in general, the average earth pony does not appear noticeably stronger than the average unicorn or pegasus. Nor does tending the land call for unusual physical might. But there are more definitions of strength than muscle. Celestia may have been referring to something other than brute force.
Long before Season 4, the show creator Lauren Faust commented that she considered earth ponies to have a magical connection to the land. Certainly, this is born out in some elements of the show. Almost all farmers and gardeners in the series are presented as earth ponies. And in “Hearth’s Warming Eve”, we are shown that it is the earth ponies who provided food for all three kinds of ponies.
Perhaps that is a sufficient explanation of earth pony magic. It fits reasonably well with a lot that we see, and it is an arguably good interpretation of Celestia’s “strength” comment. But personally, I don’t care for it. Perhaps I am a bit biased – I find the idea that “the magic of earth ponies is to help plants grow” both very boring and a bit of a shaft. But there is another possibility that encompasses this and I believe works much better.
Cutie marks are magical, and intimately tied to the magic of ponies. When Tirek drains a pony of his or her magic, the pony’s cutie mark fades away. Not, one presumes, because they lose their talent and passion in life, but because they lose the magic that causes the Cutie mark to manifest in the first place. However, it is undeniable that the magic of every pony’s cutie mark manifests in accordance to their special talent. And we have seen other elements of a pony’s magic follow suit. As Twilight Sparkle explains in “Boast Busters”, most unicorns have a limited collection of spells that is related to their talent. (And telekinesis, which seems to be universal.)
What I propose is that the magic of earth ponies is also tied to their talents and passions, and manifests itself in subtle but no less powerful ways in what they do. In “Hearth’s Warming Eve”, the earth ponies are described as industrious, and in a way that suggests this is a quality that they show in significant excess to that of the other pony tribes. (You could say, perhaps, that the earth ponies are the equivalent of fantasy dwarves.) And this is certainly reflected in the show itself.
First, look at the level of industry that earth ponies are credited with. In my favorite first-season examples: the earth ponies of Appleloosa built a full town within a year. Pinkie Pie swiftly bodges together a candy-cane helicopter to chase after Rainbow Dash and Gilda. Between episodes, they basically rebuild Ponyville after a parasprite attack. But I think it is more than just “earth pony magic lets them build stuff”. That is as limited as them being magical gardeners.
Observe the Hooffields and McColts. The Hooffields definitely embody the Lauren Faust concept of earth pony magical manifestation. But if earth pony magic was relegated to enhanced farming, then the McColts are the least magical earth ponies ever. But the episode doesn’t present us with a severely unbalanced rivalry.
Instead, the earth pony McColts are just as impressively talented in their area of expertise. I think this makes a good argument that earth pony magic enhances their natural areas of expertise, making an earth pony capable of being truly exceptional at what he or she does.
In addition to being a brilliant dressmaker, Rarity has quite a variety of spells related to crafting, beauty and design. One would think this would give her an unfair advantage in a fashion industry where the cream of the crop appear to mostly be earth ponies, yet she has to rise to the challenge in order to become a success. It is her skill, passion and perseverance that ultimately allow her to stand as an equal in Canterlot to earth ponies within the same industry. And that definitely suggests that Rarity’s magic doesn’t give her an edge that isn’t matched by a fashionista earth pony’s magic – it may be much more subtle, but it is just as present.
I had the basic foundation of these ideas when I wrote Fallout: Equestria. The Overmare of Stable 101 voices that the magic inherent to earth ponies is naturally channeled into what they do. She goes so far as to promote earth pony magic as superior, pointing out that earth ponies do not have an equivalent of flight camp or magic school – earth ponies need no special training to use their innate gifts.
Likewise, lacking the magical "shortcuts" of pegasi and unicorns, earth ponies have to compensate with ingenuity and science. Their innately-channeled magic allows them to design and craft solutions at phenomenal rates (again, see Pinkie Pie's helicopter)... something which can help explain Equestria's bizarrely scattershot technological level, where they have pony-drawn carriages, wind-up hairdryers, hydro-electric power plants, and video games.
In "The Cutie Re-Mark", we see Equestria in a state of total war with King Sombra. The big difference between what we see and what I present in Fallout: Equestria is that without their friendship and the bonding with the Elements of Harmony that followed, the Mane Six are acting as individuals and without an elevated status. In this situation, Applejack is supporting the war effort on her farm as best she can... and her idea of how to serve as many as possible as best as they can is through industrialization of the Apple Farm.
(I cannot deny how serendipitous I find this revelation. 
)
In Fallout: Equestria, where she is given a much vaster range of influence, she essentially applies the exact same principles, only Equestria-wide. By enabling and bolstering the industrialization and technological advancement efforts of businesses all across the country, Applejack's Ministry allows the earth ponies who channel their magic through invention and production to radically transform Equestria.
Conversely, while we've all heard people complain that the show makes earth ponies inferior, or doesn’t showcase any sort of inherent earth pony magic, I consider that untrue. Per my theories on pony magic, I would say we have seen a fair amount – more than we might think at first. We just don't tend to view what we are seeing as earth pony magic.
Part of that, I believe, is because earth pony magic normally tends to be subtle. It enhances mundane tasks rather than provides flashy effects. Whenever we see a Sweetie Belle levitate something, we file that as an example of unicorn magic. We don’t tend to think “ah, nice earth pony magic” when the apples that AJ bucks from a tree all fall perfectly into a few baskets. Maybe we should?
And another part is that the “pretty magical” ponies in the show are more often unicorns than any other type of pony (alicorns not counting). More often… but not always. But more on that next blog.
What are your thoughts?
art by Yoka the Changeling
Thanks for posting this! Earth ponies are my favorite, and I've always found them to be the most interesting characters in a lot of the stories I read and write. They live in a world where they need to compete with unicorns and pegasi, and yet they keep up and often (as you described) advance more quickly. I love the idea of a pony that has to work hard for what they do, and I find a lot of their trials more relatable.
As for a magic that enhances their innate abilities, I hadn't thought about it that way previously, but now I certainly will! Have you explored that idea in any short stories? And if not, would you mind if I did?
Personally, I kinda contend with the theory that the Mane Six (used to be) comprised of a nice and even pairing between those that are defined by their race's magic and those that are kinda doing their own things even though they aren't really related to it. And under that banner, Pinkie's the most magical Earth Pony around.
Think about it. As long as it's funny, we don't even think twice when she out-races Rainbow Dash, uses her tail as a drill, or pulls huge cannons from /nowhere/. Maybe we should.
3785437 Go right ahead.
This is an interesting lens to view pony magic through.
...I still love the Stand Firm power, though. It's so awesome. (Which I think originated in Dangerous Business? I would be impressed if it wasn't the first work to use that idea, given how old it is.)
I'd also like to point out that despite fans thinking that Pinkie Pie's bizarre abilities are unique and not reflective of any "classic" form of magic, the show itself seems to contradict that. Pinkie Pie is using earth pony magic.
One very visible example is Cheese Sandwich, an earth pony, who has all the same abilities as Pinkie Pie (including a "Cheesy Sense"). However, a much stronger example is in Family Appreciation Day where Granny Smith outright says that earth pony magic is strange and confusing. She has to perform a whole bunch of nonsense rituals (which look similar to the antics Pinkie is always up to!) in order to get the Zap Apples to ripen correctly.
That's earth pony magic. Subtle and unintuitive, but likely the most powerful magic of all.
Any week is a fun week for discussing earth pony magic. It's a great topic all by itself.
... This is a very interesting insight. I hadn't paid enough attention to the number of earth ponies involved in Canterlot's fashion scene.
Not to be forgotten: The Apple clan building a whole new barn at Sweet Apple Acres in one day. Similarly, Winter Wrap-Up "the earth pony way" was also a single-day event, though pegasus flight was heavily involved.
I think a lot of people dismiss it as "Eh, cartoon physics." But maybe that's something earth ponies are more attuned to. Seems likely you're onto something, though.
To be honest, I always liked earth ponies most because they didn't have those "showstopper" powers that are really flashy. They're reliable and hardy ponies, sometimes to a fault. I like how they are equal despite how many people see them as the "weakest" race. Not to mention it can also create some pretty interesting conflicts if an earth pony doesn't realize what makes them special.
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Thanks!
It sounds like some interesting thoughts. It certainly is interesting to consider when you think about Maude chunking boulders and smashing them, but then consider Maude also found a special kind of rock that could be made into a candy or think about all the stuff Pinkie pulls off. Not to mention how the Pie families farm looked for Hearths warming and got a look at what they considered a meal. Interesting to be reminded of the story of Stone Soup.
But thinking back to a few things, I find the running of the leaves and Applejack losing to Rainbow Dash at Hoof-wrestling seem to be key indicators that their is more then simple brute strength backing earth ponies. I think it was mentioned somewhere that earth ponies have a special connection with the world that generally in most cases makes them better at growing things and caring for animals. But that may be a generalization, after all, a lot of things are connected to the world besides simply plants and animals.
I myself find myself wondering about the elements of friendship and how it seems similar how the founders of Equestria fended of the Wendigos. Not to mention I've been wondering looking back on that and wondering if the Element of Magic might not be about all magic, but a very particular one that can overcome all others. So we might be misinterpreting why Twilight was able to use the Element of Magic.
I saw a comment on a story point out (I forget context, I could probably dig it up since the story is in one of my shelves, but I'm not going to right now) how there seems to be great many more Earth Ponies than there are pegasai or unicorns in the show. Pointing out how there seem to be a lot more towns and settlements with earth pony populations as the majority.
Now this isn't the best reasoning but we see, what? Two or three, different towns throughout the show that have been founded by earth ponies, who still make up the majority of the population?
I rationalized the size of earth pony population (if it is a significantly larger portion than the other two) that a majority of earth ponies are farmers. And when you have a lot of kids on the farm, you get lots of free labor (I say this from experience, my parents both grew up on farms and I have four aunts and uncles on each side. Big families, both of them).
This was supposed to relate to magic somehow, wasn't it? Right...
Hmm... Perhaps their magic is strengthened when you have multiple earth ponies working together?
I mean you have multiple instances of earth ponies achieving interesting things in groups (appleloosa being built in a year, just applejack and big mag being able to harvest all of sweet apple acres)
Not the best reasoning but I have never been good in understanding magic to any degree in any setting.
Very interesting view on earth pony magic and I like it.
If you want to read some other stories with interesting earth pony magic I suggest reading Life in the Wasteland as it has some pretty interesting earth pony magic involved, though far from the main part of the story.
// Sphex
Well, that's certainly a Take on the subject...
Earth ponies sure do the darnest things. I really have not paid much attention to it all that much. An interesting theory that earth ponies have subtle magic. On a related note, I do find it odd/interesting how Starlight Glimmer uses her magic to fly in Season 5 finale. Sure she has no wings, she is no alicorn but she is a unicorn. I was not expecting a unicorn to use magic to float in air or outright substitute the need for wings. So Starlight Glimmer must be very gifted or so to be able to use telekinesis on herself like that. Hmm, alicorns being a culmination of the three pony races, I guess we'll have to wait and see in Season 6 if they will bring up the topic.
Well, this little blog gave me a refresher: made me think some ideas, thanks.
I like the whole idea of specialization: unicorns that learn a couple of related spells, much like people learning languages: nopony knows them all, and few know that many distinct ones.
It really means the obvious strongest, Big Mac, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, might not be that exceptional. Besides, those three all have their related character flaws and also practice a lot.
One thing about earth ponies being common: they seem to fill most of the roles of the peasent class. The bulk of things. While the pegasi and unicorns are unrivalled in what they do best, their skills aren't needed in most basic tasks. And it seems food supply is mostly limited by farming performance: if magic is weak at building permanent things, than being better at crafts is key in developping settlements. As a collective, the working class may be more free to randomly expand.
I'm also not sure if earth ponies are more keen or more capable of doing needed work: pegasi and unicorns can pull carriages, but you rarely see them do so. However, a new settlement could hardly exist if nopony provides needed food and tools from somewhere.
Those earth ponies have their guts in the right place: a hoof in almost everything, they tend to diversify a lot. They seem more industrious and steady in their resolve. I like them a lot.
Personally, I've never written anything in mlp to cartoon logics: what with the sun and all. Usually whatever happens is consistent somehow. Which is why Discord and Pinkie Pie do most of the crazy: they are specialists. But they seem to have limits: Pinkie Pie tends to accelerate down faster after she stalls her falling, and Discord doesn't seem to have much power beyond what he sees.
I've always seen earth pony magic a sort of growing magic, they have connections to the land and therfore make good farmers as they've been shown as in the show
I tend to define earth pony magic as fundamental or foundational. It works in terms of unappreciated but necessary keystones without which everything would collapse. That can mean the physical body that supports consciousness (their own and others; most nurses seem to be earth ponies,) vital occupations like agriculture that support civilization, or industrial bases that support a war. Like what it enhances, earth pony magic is almost always understated, passive, and overlooked.
Then there's Pinkie Pie. In her case, she's working with the fundamental medium of Equestria itself, that is, its fictional nature. She is thus constrained only by the creativity of those creating her world. After all, Faust herself made Pinkie fourth-wall aware in the series premiere.
So yeah, close to your assessment, but not quite. I do think your take is very well thought through.
Ink Rose did her own video on this subject.
Well that both changes things, and dose not. I do plan on using the main characters of my last two story's agen, both being earth ponies. Though they may work a little differently from normal earth ponies, One having been teleported through an imploding time traveling mega-spell, and the other infused with dark magic. But overall this dose go inline with how they were.
My fist character, Slowtrot, was set up as a bit of a dopey stallion with good endurance, and better luck. His luck helps him in much of what he dose, but often acts as a double edge sword. How he would work into the Earth Pony Magic thing would included the pipbuck given to him by the R&D staff, as it has many digitized textbooks in it, along with a text to speech spell ready to be used. Not all that skilled, but in the end he would be very useful.
On the other hand, Star Charter, my second character, would come off as a brute. Her earth pony magic could be described as her ability to kill, But in truth it involves navigating the stars to know where she is, and where she needs to go. Simply she is a deadly fighter that is never lost. Pony Pirate for the wind.
As other magics go, My third story had the Mirage ponies, which simply are walking magical spark batteries. Wich dose not seem to be all that impressive, but combiend with high technology, they havr the ability to make tech and weapons that no other pony can make without strapping a large battery onto it. Theirs more to it, but this is about earth ponies, not made up pony races.
Good read, and I'm not just saying that because it's close to my own headcanon
I think some of the reason that people consider earth ponies to be inferior is because they haven't considered that 'magic', which all ponies have, doesn't need to be the same as 'wizardry', which is what I think of unicorn magic as. Then again, those terms can mean different things in different stories. I'm guessing that unicorn magic has a more academic flavor than earth pony magic.
Also: when people say that earth ponies seem inferior, they seem to mean that a unicorn can beat an earth pony in a fight, which says a lot about the people saying that, when you think about it. Haven't it been abundantly clear in the show that martial might is not even remotely the most important part of life in Equestria? If a genie appeared before me and said that he would magically make me a grand master in however many skills, I don't think that personal combat would even be in my top 5. maybe in the top 10, and it seems even less relevant to become skilled in violence in the Equestria that appears in the show. Skill as an artificer, service provider, or other non-martial expert, seems a lot more useful for making a life for yourself among the colorful ponies. Exhibit A, B, and C:
So yes, I would dispute the notion that earth ponies are inferior to pegasi and unicorns, whether on or off the battlefield. I like to see it it RPG-terms: Unicorns have access to their own brand of wizardry-like magic, and pegasi have flight and weather-magic, which earth ponies simply do not. In other words, not all classes are available to them. It all equals out in the grand scale of things, though, with earth ponies having a lot more 'points' to distribute between skills and abilities.
hi hi
I've had my own hypotheses about Earth Pony magic for a while, and while they are not quite the same as this, I'd say they're pretty compatible.
The way I've seen it, Pegasus Ponies have a magic of the body, expressed through physical actions, like bucking lightning and flying fast. Unicorn Ponies seem to have a magic of the mind, expressed through mental actions, like concentration and study. Earth Ponies, perhaps, have a magic of the heart, that is expressed through relationships and emotional things, like working with something day in and day out, and getting to know everyone in town as a friend.
Every type of pony has something that every other type of that pony can do, but is hardly their most impressive ability. Pegasus Ponies can fly and walk on clouds, good but that doesn't define any individual. Unicorn Ponies can use telekinesis, which is good but doesn't define any individual. Earth Ponies seem to have a connection to the Earth that gives them an advantage in growing things and perhaps finding things, which is good but doesn't define any individual.
Every type of pony has something that seems to be related to their special talent. For a Pegasus Pony who has a special talent for speed, they might be able to go so fast that they create a sonic rainboom. For Unicorn Pony who has a special talent for fashion, they might have a variety of tricks that help them make dresses. For an Earth Pony who has a special talent for making ponies smile, they might have a supernatural knack for excellent comedic timing.
Every type of pony also seems to have some level of ability that goes beyond both their phenotype and their special talent. Unicorn Ponies seem to have the ability to share their tricks with other Unicorn Ponies who care to take the time to study and learn them. Pegasus Ponies seem to be able to train themselves with enough dedication and practice to be able to do someone else's amazing tricks, even if they might come easier to the other pony. And I would suggest that Earth Ponies can work together, with some effort and understanding, and perform any kind of subtle Earth Pony trick en masse, similar to the running of the leaves.
I definitely think inherent Earth Pony magic is part of why Earth Ponies tend to be so industrious. If their magic is indeed a magic of the heart, then being able to foster a deep, intuitive, and personal connection is very similar to what artisans and inventors go through when they are mastering their craft.
But at the same time, I suspect there is something cultural at work too. Speaking of shortcuts: Pegasus Ponies certainly have the ability to be industrious, and indeed the weather factory shows just how industrious they can be when they put their minds to it, but their culture seems to be somewhat nomadic in nature. If their current location isn't giving them what they want, they move somewhere that suits them better. If they want their home to be by a lake, they just move their cloud home next to the lake. If the nearby apple trees are bare, they can just move to the next grove. They move around a lot, they don't lay foundations and plant themselves in one spot.
Earth Ponies certainly have the ability to move very fast, and the railroads show just how mobile they can be when they put their minds to it, but their culture seems to be somewhat agricultural in nature. They lay foundations. When the land they're on isn't suiting their needs, they don't just move somewhere better, they build on it, they expand, they improve, and they change their environment. If they want their house to be next to a lake, they have to dig a hole in the ground and fill it. If the nearby apple trees are bare, they need to plant more trees and care for them. This, I think, is a huge part of why Earth Ponies are seen as being so industrious, because of their connection to the land.
Overall, I think that Earth Pony magic is involved with growing, improving, and building things up. This will often involve their own special talent, just like the original post suggests, but I think it can also involve more areas than that. Sometimes growing plants, in a very mundane, cloud walking sort of way, but also in a wider sense, including mass production and inspiring others.
3786101 Sometimes I really have to wonder how outside stimulation has on the development of pony magic. One big thing to notice is comparing the Pie and Apple family. Not only does a large chunk of the Apple family seem to specialize with growing apples and harvesting them, but they have quite a bit of skill working with them and doing tasks of maintaining a farmstead.
While the Pies seem to be good at mining materials out of the ground and maybe even slowly growing larger rocks out of it if their moving of the stones on their farm is anything to go by. But then it goes even further then that. Their family seems to be able to eat rocks and Maude Pie even found a rock that all ponies could eat when prepared into a candy. Not to mention a lot of other stuff like being able to work with rocks with a certain discrepancy of ease from each member of the Pie family and being able to move a boulders with a bit more ease then seems natural... I mean did you see Igneous move that one rock while he and Cloudy were talking with Granny Smith? Certainly moving heavy rocks isn't just a trait that Maude and Pinkie have.
Of course, outside factors and situations might have effects on other tribes as well. In fact, Kkat's story gives an interesting case on that with Trixie I think.
That's how I've viewed Alicorns since I became a brony.
I always assumed the earth pony's were the innovators and inventors of the bunch. For example if pegasi can fly, then earth ponies can build something to help fly with them. That's what I used as the basis for one of my stories when bringing in new technology. More often then not it was earth ponies trying to push the limits of what was already in front of them then take it to another level.
That's pretty much my two cents.
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In real life, Phosphorite is absolutely critical to industrial agriculture, so in a sense we're all eating rocks.
Now I have to wonder, which type of pony-magic makes for the best lovers?
3786196 Exactly. Many people seem to simply say that all earth ponies have 'super-strength', and while there might be ponies who have just that, I like to think that it's more complicated than that. I think that they get super-powered traits whenever they work with their special talents, or whatever else they put a lot of time and effort into, rather than simply having super-powered physical traits. Otherwise, Maud wouldn't need to take the train to Ponyville, she could just jump there. And the balloon-guy in the second part of the season 5 pilot can build a bridge out of balloons in seconds, but he probably can't run at super-speed.
3786150
That's a nice take on it. To gain a deep, innate understanding like that of a seasoned artist rather than a scholar. A master guitarist might not be able to put into print how they do what they do, which doesn't make them less skilled in their field than an engineer who can do so.
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As one of the apparently 5 people who has Earth Pony OCs, I had some time to think about it, and that's pretty much the best I can come up with, but there's always room to refine things and come up with interesting plot devices. I still like to think that the type of pony doesn't make things totally exclusive, since an Earth Pony can still build a flying machine, a Unicorn can still summon up the determination and passion to compete with the best, and a Pegasus can still achieve a deep connection with all kinds of animals living on the ground.
((I wouldn't be able to say anything about romance, but I have heard the argument several times before that Earth Pony magic/endurance makes them more fecund.))
Ehh... I sort of like the standard stuff with a sort... strange magic, as it were. It allows earth ponies to turn things in their favor, from mundane childish deeds like tic tac toe and dice rolls, to inexplicably finding extra caps or pulling a hammer from thin air
Makes sense considering that the abilities of Earth ponies feel very natural compared to unicorns, pegasi, and alicorns.
This is a very interesting representation of Earth Ponies, However i believe it falls short of any real explanation on the matter. In canon i think earth ponies are represented well, but its a matter of Fandom where they consistently get shafted on matters of balance. You stated that "The exact nature of earth pony magic is poorly defined." I will definitely agree with you on that account.
Your next point is to state that "without their strength, they will not be able to tend the land.” However, this is incongruous with what we have seen on the show. " that is a fairly odd thing to say considering AJ, Pinkie, Maud, Cheerilee, Big Mac, Braeburn, and Trouble Shoes are all shown to have much greater strength than any unicorn or pegasus (the one exception being Bulk Biceps), and you may make the argument that those are exceptions to the rule, and that it has to do with their talent, however, the same care is almost never taken with unicorns and pegasi in fandom, for example Twilight, Sunset, and Starlight, are all magical prodigies the measure of a unicorns power should be in no way shaped after them, they are the exceptions to their own rules, your average earth pony cannot uproot a house and carry it down a street, your average unicorn should not be capable of mastering many spells, and have enough power with them to eclipse the same amount of work done by an earth pony or pegasus.
As for Tending the land not calling for unusual might, Farm-work is some of the most strength/endurance heavy work available, and the Earth ponies pull their own plows and buck their trees rather than pulling individual apples, IRL, farmers have workhorses or machinery more recently to pull their plows, because we are literally not strong enough to plow as efficiently as a horse is, and pulling plows, bucking trees, those are both strength builders, doing those for any appreciable amount of time would certainly strengthen Earth ponies beyond others.
I think the big thing i am getting to here is that in canon besides the mane 6, the powers of the ponies are very seldom directly tackled, i think they are all equivalent, but in the fandom, especially in Fanfiction, Earth ponies are left without anything to their name. I absolutely loved Fallout Equestria, but i did thing that Earth Ponies are under represented, their influence is seen everywhere in the wasteland in the technology that has survived, but the only Earth pony in the main group, Steelhooves, was not really resourceful, and all of his toughness was because he was a Canterlot ghoul, wearing power armor. this is unfortunate as it implies that a very tough Earth pony, who was from his description a rather strong Earth Pony, is exactly as strong as a strong, unicorn or pegasus, so in this particular case, he is not resourceful, he wasn't industrious , that was Applejacks forte, he didn't have any particular connection to the earth, and he wasn't tougher than any other soldiers, that can be forgiven, he had willpower to follow Applejacks ideals even after the rangers became effectively corrupt, but even that was how much he cared for Applejack rather than any force of will he had on his own.
I am making a big deal out of this because, whenever the matter of Earth Ponies being underpowered is brought up, everyone points to the canon, saying that its balanced, which, yes, it is, but they are completely underrepresented in Fanfiction, and PNP RPGs, and when they are represented they are incapable of doing things comparable to the other ponies.
I do like the concepts presented here, that Earth ponies are strong because of their willpower, resourcefulness, and being industrious those elements just have to be properly represented. I don't really think that "connection to the earth" is a boring ability, because it can implies so much, Earth ponies can grow things faster, or perhaps they are strong, LIKE the earth, or perhaps they can move the earth. Im not the hugest fan of them simply being Exceptional in whatever they do, because that is an attribute shown to all types of ponies, Fluttershy has a deep connection with animals that is unlike any of the other pegasi, that is her talent, it is unique to her, although there may be similar. fluttershy may be afraid of heights, but she can still certainly fly, and stand on clouds, in that manner i think earth ponies, should be physically, and/or willfully stronger that the others, and still have their unique talent, rather than simply being 'better' at their specific talent, which is relative anyways.
TL:DR, I like the concepts presented but think they could be represented better in fandom, and that the issue is a little more complex than this explanation can do justice
This is a bit of a combination reply to both the main post and some salient things I've seen in the comments this far, so bear with me.
First off, as to why the issue is so important: all the lore for Equestria, its history, and its values show a premium being placed on the equal importance of all three pony tribes. The Windigoes, the Elements of Harmony, even Tirek: all of them show in some way that Equestria needs all of its component populations to survive and function as it does. The thing is, this causes a bit of a paradox since pegasi and unicorns have access to abilities that earth ponies obviously don't.
To put it in mathematical terms, we're told by the show that pony plus wings equals pony plus horn equals pony plus "x".
That's the point of contention. Trying to figure out what ability, what "x factor" makes earth ponies just as valuable as pegasi and unicorns. Canon tells us that there is, in fact, a value for "x" that satisfies the equation. So, what can earth ponies for Equestria that no other pony type can do as well or better?
Well, assuming the arguments presented here to be correct, it isn't raw physical strength or the ability to grow crops or tend the land. Instead, the argument is that earth ponies are industrious and that their magic manifests as a variety of subtle "bonuses", for lack of a better word, towards whatever the focus of their efforts is, topped off by using mechanical devices to make up for lacking horns or wings where possible.
When it comes to industriousness, though, are earth ponies really unique? Yes, we've plenty of examples of what they can do in large groups, working in unison. Except, we can also find examples of that for the other pony types as well. In "Hurricane Fluttershy", we have all the pegasi of Ponyville creating a tornado that literally drains a lake of water up into the sky. And according to the lore, unicorns raised and lowered the sun before the princesses showed up, something that likely took many, many unicorns at once given they'd need to equal the power of at least one alicorn for that. So it would seem that combining the magical powers of many ponies for a greater result than any could have achieved alone isn't something unique to earth ponies at all.
So then, the "subtle" manifestations of their magic. The thing is, as near as I can tell, the argument here is that earth pony magic gives them subtle, hard-to-notice "bonuses" towards their areas of expertise. In short, it makes them good at their talent. But isn't that what a cutie mark already sort of means, in general? As noted in the original post, canon says that unicorns generally get spells that apply to their talent. Forgive my skepticism, but how are things like "can land a tree of apples in properly placed buckets" going to ever add up to enough to trump just, you know, willing what you want to happen via magic? Also, this idea would seem to leave any pegasus with a non-flying-related mark either out in the cold or better off than everyone else. They're either not allowed to be good at their talent because they already "have" flight and being good at their talent is something for only earth ponies while spells are for unicorns, or these pegasi would get to be good at their special talents and then their flying and weather manipulation abilities are just an added bonus.
That leaves mechanization. To be sure, it's an interesting idea: earth ponies invent their way into parity by creating machines to do what their bodies cannot. Except, Twilight's old library (R.I.P.) had a whole basement lab full of gizmos and gadgets. And Cloudsdale's weather factory in "Tanks for the Memories" wasn't short on magitek devices either. And then there's the Flim-Flam brothers. Yes, they technically lost the competition against the Apple family in their first appearance, but consider this: the two of them had a machine that they could operate with seemingly little strain on their part, and we know from "Boast Busters" that casting a powerful spell physically taxes a unicorn (Twilight shows obvious exertion when getting rid of the Ursa Minor). To beat that, it takes not only all four present members of the Apple family, but the rest of the mane 6 as well. Without the rest of the mane 6 present the 4 Apple family members get outproduced at making apple cider (surely a cutie mark related activity for 3 out of 4 of them) by two unicorns who don't even have apple or cider related cutie marks and who expend far less effort. And then there's the Flim-Flam "bad future" from the S5 finale, where somehow the two of them have managed a technomagical takeover of Equestria.
To summarize, two of these things are patently not earth pony specific as per canon, and while the idea of their abilities being subtle is nice, I feel like the way it's being presented here that ultimately means they'll be good at what they're talented at, which is rather the point of a talent to begin with. I think there's some interesting ideas presented here, but overall I don't believe it's a satisfactory value for "x".
And as a side note, to address some of the RPG comparisons being used:
"Earth ponies are like dwarves". This is a fair comparison to make in attitude: both are presented in their settings as being hardworking, down to earth, and stubborn. However, most fantasy settings actually do, in fact, give their variation of dwarves some obvious physical advantages, namely endurance. Dwarves are generally portrayed as being capable of working past when all others would collapse of exhaustion, sustaining wounds that would kill other humanoids, and drinking just about any non-dwarf under the table.
"Earth ponies just have a more limited 'class selection' than others". Except that if this worked like classes in an RPG, then pegasi and unicorns would have to choose their racial abilities to the exclusion of all else. After all, even if one race in an RPG has more class choices than another, at the end of the day they still have to pick a class. Unicorns and pegasi, however, seem to always have some basic abilities that earth ponies don't (flight/cloudwalking, telekinesis/light), regardless of whatever their talents are. In other words, pegasi and unicorn abilities are "racial" abilities in RPG terms, not class abilities.
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"at the end of the day they still have to pick a class"
Oh there are many RPGs where you can pick many classes, or no class at all. But yes, perhaps it's simpler to see Equestria using a 'classless' system, and the different kinds of pony-magics as 'racial abilities'. Which would then beg the question, what kind of magic is for earth ponies and what kind is for ponies in general?
And I'm sort of skeptical about this in turn. Twilight is clearly an almost freakishly dedicated scholar and magician, who still can't do everything with magic, as shown in winter wrap-up. Compare this to the Apple-family, who can do a lot more than just buck apples into buckets really accurately. I guess we haven't seen it very often, or maybe I just can't remember it coming up all that much, but Sweet Apple Acres is an enormous, clean, dedicated establishment, that's run by four ponies, one of which is a small child and one who seems... valetudinary, all without mechanization. It would seem to me that the Apple-family are experts on all things agriculture and farm-working, and probably a wide range of other skills, farm-related or otherwise, far more than mundane hard work allows them to be. There be powerful magic at work on that farm, and not just any old unicorn is gonna be able to do what they do just by 'willing' it to be so, if for no other reason than that learning more than basic unicorn-magic seems difficult.
Or perhaps a middle-ground most of the time?
I don't know. I'm mostly convinced that all tribes, alicorns notwithstanding, are equals, because the creators seems way too socially conscious to write stories with races that are inferior or superior to others. Also, it's a lot more fun to try and figure out how earth ponies can measure up to their airborne and wizard counterparts
Again, alicorns are an exception, but as we see in season 3, this seems to be because they are extraordinary individuals rather than being born into some sort of 'master-race'.
3792280 Regarding the issue of "character classes": I am aware that there are quite a few RPG rulesets in which multiple classes may be taken, as well as rulesets that do restrict classes based on race without causing major balancing issues. My point, however is this:
Let's say we have a RPG system where race 1 can play as classes A, B, or C, while race 2 can only play as class C. If a character of race 1 is played as class C, they don't get any of the features of classes A or B. They now get only the features of class C, the same as a character of race 2.
With ponies, however, it doesn't matter what a pegasus or unicorn has for a cutie mark or does for a living: they still get to fly or cast telekinesis/light, which earth ponies just don't. That is my point: saying earth ponies have less options isn't really getting at the issue here because the issue isn't how many choices you have to pick from. It's that earth ponies need to have some ability that is their and theirs alone, otherwise they're just plain worse off.
Regarding the Apples and their farm: that actually /is/ a good point and one that I hadn't considered. That they keep an orchard as demonstrably huge as the one in the show running with mostly with only two ponies in good enough physical shape to be fully capable workers is quite impressive.
But to return to the point I was making in my first post: if we accept what many here seem to be saying, that they manage it without being preternaturally strong (or at least AJ isn't) because earth ponies aren't that, and their crops aren't helped by any connection to the earth/plants/etc because earth ponies don't have that, then how does the Apple family manage such a feat? Obviously they do somehow, but if I am operating on the aforementioned assumptions then I'm really at a loss. Further, what if you have a unicorn or a pegasus who has an agriculture-related cutie mark? How do we know they couldn't manage the same feat, only better?
Lastly, perhaps I am misunderstanding but stating you think all three tribes are equal makes me think that perhaps I have been construed as arguing that they aren't. If that's the case, then let me clear things up: I think earth ponies are on par. I think they're just as capable as pegasi or unicorns. That is not my disagreement with the opinions in the OP and most of the comments.
My point of difference is in how earth ponies manage against advantages like flight and magic. The explanation that earth ponies have "subtle" advantages of their own just doesn't work for me, and I was trying to explain why. I don't see any of the more visible examples of these advantages as being things that are actually only available to earth ponies. That means that as far as subtle advantages go the only thing I can really see from all of this is "well they're really good at what their talents are". Which to me feels like saying "they're really good at what they're really good at". Overall, as an explanation it just feels very vague to me.
I'll further state that I like the idea of earth ponies getting more "noticeable" traits like incredible strength, resistance to things like injury/disease/poison, or even just the ability to grow bountiful crops and raise livestock through a "connection to the land". I think that stuff is cool, and theories like this always seem to involve throwing that stuff out the window almost entirely, only to replace it with stuff that sounds vague and which I don't think really does the "job" of making earth ponies equal.
I apologize if anything I said before made my position unclear or if I seemed like I was trying to claim some the position of a disinterested party. I respect Kkat for writing FOE and being an all-around wonderful person to interact with, but in this case I feel pretty at odds with her position and it's an issue I admit has been stuck in my craw for a while now. I'm hoping to make a coherent argument for why I opt for a different headcanon and to not be an jerk while doing so.
3793620 Oh no, I wasn't saying that you were suggesting that earth ponies were inferior, the thing with the creators was just an additional point which I felt spoke strongly in favor of equality. Which I guess brings us back to the main question: If there is such a thing as general, universal pony magic, and such a thing as magic specifically for earth ponies, where does one end and the other begin?
One obvious thing would indeed be things like greater physical attributes like strength, stamina, and speed. Like dwarves in an everyday fantasy setting, but I'm not entirely satisfied by that explanation either. That would mean to me that the pegasi are the frailer and weaker of the two physically-oriented races, so why would they have a warrior culture? And Rainbow Dash seems to be Applejack's overall physical equal.
I'm kind of satisfied with the RPG-approach, at least in some ways. Different races, but like in Fallout, no actual classes (at least the classics, I haven't played a lot of Bethesda Games). If unicorns had access to their magic and pegasi to theirs, and access to earth pony magic, but again, earth ponies get a lot more skill points or other perks to balance things out. And speaking of perks, if that would function in Equestria like they do in Fallout, and earth ponies get more of them, things could be really interesting
Anyway, I think what I disagreed on is that earth ponies can't make up for their lack wings or horns with 'subtle' magic. Maybe I just picture it differently, but when I hear the word 'subtle', I don't think weak or unimportant or anything like that. After all, Trixie's magic is everything but subtle, but she can't actually do anything other than make noise and bright lights, while Pinkie can to all kinds of strange and wonderful things without a special effects-extremity. One subtle and powerful, the other very much not so.
I have to admit, part of this might just be me not liking the notion that unicorns and pegasi can just never hope to physically measure up to an earth pony. Though, as I'm writing this, I'm realizing that it might be because the obviously Hellenistic aesthetics of Equestria: In the ancient Greek world, being big and strong was very much idealized, and if every important person (men, that is) wasn't physical perfection and masculine-waxed-pecs-and-chiseled-jaw incarnate, at least people would've liked it to be that way. In spite of this, Shining Armor is the military commander of Canterlot, the most ancient Greek-looking place in Equestria, while being a 'weak' unicorn. This is at least one of the things that speaks against super-strength being mostly for earth ponies in my mind. Bull reason, perhaps, but I can't help but think about it when figuring out headcanon
But if we go back to what has actually been said in the source material. 'Connection to the earth' and 'strength' (that's what they actually say, right?) could mean quite a few things when you think about it. Do earth ponies have strong 'hearts'? Like hobbits? Does a connection to the earth limit you to agriculture and things like mining? Could be mean something else? Is there magic in the ground which earth ponies feel most at ease tapping into? Rather than magic in the sky like pegasi, or, I guess, some arcane magic like unicorns? Are pegasi earth ponies' equals, but they don't have the strong 'hearts' like earth ponies do, and instead feel a greater pull to drift from place to place like dandelion tufts in the wind, making their homes in the open sky and finding it difficult to bind themselves to a patch of land to toil and pay with sweat and blood to make beautiful and rewarding?
Now I'm getting poetic, and I don't think I'm a very good poet. I guess what makes most sense to me (so far, I still want to read what other people have to say on the subject) is that all the tribes' magic can manifest in different ways depending on the individual, and that one shouldn't underestimate the magic of being able to make apples fall into baskets when kicking a tree, especially when seemingly powerful unicorns might be just lights and noise (Trixie) and fast pegasi might just have pointless and careless speed with no purpose or benefit (Lightning Dust). But that doesn't answer the question of where universal pony magic ends and earth pony magic begins.
3794408 Then you're proposing making them a "jack of all stats", more or less. That's not my first choice, but I'm at least okay with that. It's not quite the same as what I was seeing from many of the comments and the OP, though. What's being proposed there is that earth ponies specifically get bonuses to whatever their special talent is, while what you're proposing now is that they'd have lots of general utility. Utility I'm okay with that mostly because at least there's no longer the issue of debating if everything you want to make them good at needs to be explained as "related" to their special talent somehow. Also saying "they have a wide variety of skills to call on" actually sounds like a bonus to me, unlike "they're really good at what they're really good at".
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I would also like to note that on the subject of RPG's, having Earth Ponies main benefit be more skill points and perks doesn't necessarily make them balanced, in order for Earth Ponies to be considered as strong as the other two, they may ALSO require more strength or endurance, or have them gain quite a few more perks and skill points.
As an example of what i mean, in 3rd Edition Dungeons and Dragons, (carried on to 3.5), Humans gained an extra feat, and extra skill points, and Fighters gained more feats than every other class, as an attempt to balance them towards wizards/clerics/etc, the problem they ran into was the strength and utility of magic outweighed the bonuses of the feats, leading to wizards, clerics, and druids to be considered extremely overpowered, and it wasn't subjective, it was literally true, as spellcasters could literally do everything a fighter could but better, all at the same time (wizards in 3rd ed could if set up properly be tougher than a fighter, fully capable of dishing out a great deal more damage, and have more utility than a rogue all at once, without the need to prepare, and with no consequences).
However that being said, in this particular case, unicorns are less extreme, and earth ponies show more utility than fighters, so i can see them being very versatile, and strong of character, that would probably be balanced, it would also make sense, as the Earth Ponies shown in canon do seem to be more reliable in a character sense, (not just AJ, Coco Pommel showed that in her debut episode, and well, actually all of the apple family can be considered reliable), as well as showing a wider diversity of skills outside of their main skill set, or just a wider set of skills in the first place
3794500 Not proposing, as such. I'm just sharing my observations on what earth pony magic could be, and what speaks for and against the different interpretations of what it is. I'm certainly not here to preach my headcanon and try and establish it as the one true fanon, and I hope I didn't come across like that. People have tried doing that in my story's chat and it seems so sad, and in some ways almost defeatist, to just take things at face value, or just filling in uncertainties with things from the great, shapeless fantasy-myth formed from tired tropes and assumptions. I'm here to see other people's take on the subject, too.
3794606 I don't wanna step on anyone's toes (I like DnD), but it seems to me that a lot of the problem with earth ponies, and how especially unicorns seems like the master race to many, comes from people assuming that Equestria works like DnD and that unicorns are wizard. I guess that people see earth ponies as fighters and pegasi as rogues in those cases.
So it would seem to me that that leads us back to what I think is the main question: What is earth pony magic, and why is it great?
OR, if we want to make it sound like were not trying to win an argument, because I'm not:
What could earth pony magic be, and what would make that great?
3795846 I'm not really sure where to go, then. I favor the straightforward answer for that question, and as I've already explained this whole "subtle" idea isn't something I really groove on at all. Past that, I don't really see any other ideas or proposals to make. I don't see any other viable answers to that question besides what's already been debated here.
I love this theory since it seems believably canon while not seeming to give earth ponies the short end of the stick.
Though generally magic seems to vary greatly between ponies, like how Fluttershy's flight magic seems unusually weak while she has a connection to animals which seems magical in nature.
Or how Pinkie Pie's magic manifests far more visibly than, say, Mayor Mare's.
As an added benefit the theory would translate quite conveniently into game mechanics.
I could see earth ponies being seen as the least magical in-universe though, if their magic for the most part manifests in subtle ways.
Old one but one i want to comment on.
I am a believer that a power should not be narrowed down to one facet when it comes to ponies, no more than unicorns.
True we do not see the earth ponies use superhuman strength all the time, though foten enough it does not focus on it (a rope created by discord does not seem like a proper example, cause, well, dicord rope). No more than pegasus magic,
The strength of an earth pony could be connected to theri talents. Their bodies are their magical mediums. While the generally energize the land by existing and working there, transfering energy to and from the earth, they can lso direct that energy into other things. Largely their interests or 'talents'. Their innate strength comes from the fact that theri bodies are their channel, and of course their bonds with the earth and their general environment.
and honestly you could do that same with pegasi. you can have their flight and ability to walk on clouds come from them being able to directly manipulate the elements of weather to theri will. i always liekd the idea of a pegasus pulling a pokemon and using gust on an attacker or seize a bit of cloud and use it to shoot lightning.
the show itself does not take too much into developing these powers sadly, though the show does have a LOT of potential for it. It ain't no steven universe where it carefully crafts the lore over the course of episodes, in the backgrounds.
We make headcanons for pony cuase it is fun and can be used creatively. We make headcanons in stevne universe, however, to try to put together the clues that the writersr are actually giving us and putting them together as a whole.
This is my basic stance on magic in the show. We have seen 5 Different types of magic, Chaos through discord(and pinkie to a degree) Earth(as you already cover in the blog) Air(Pegisi magic) Etherial(Unicorn) Neutral(Alicorn). I classifiy alicorn magic as it's own distinct type as it is a natural combination of the three pony tribes the same way general magic users are considered a different type of magic user then those with a specific field they focus on, so with this view Alicorns have their own magic type because of the sheer power of their magic power shown in show and that they aren't restricted to one type of magic except maybe chaos as only character that can use Chaos magic in cannon has been discord though it's clear that pinkie has some unexplained form of magic that allows her to do the things she does without needing to make sense, and In the terms of magic across all uses of magic in different series and worlds chaos is difficult to explain as it isn't ordered in the same fashion as regular magic, though it isn't without proper cause and effect it just isn't as recognizable. I also like your compairison to earth ponies and dwarves as it fits extremely well, though for the same reasons all kinds of fairies can be just as good compairisons, example An earth pony artist such as a fashionista would have magic flowing in a very similar magic to the fairies known as a Muse which inspire and bring about the creation of art, and outside of a few shown applications clothing/armor is more about art then necessity as most ponies are seen naked aside from maybe an accesory or two as their fur covers the basic function of clothing for humans and reinforced with equestrial girls world being almost identical to us aside from the few bits of magic and the candy colored skin that was done to reflect the coats of their pony counterparts
i have a theory that everypony is overpowered in one way or another. Think about it. Pegasi control the weather, Unicorns can project city-wide force fields or shoot of beams of death, Earth Ponies, are stronger than the previous two and depending on what story you're reading can influence the earth to... well, this extent.
to quote from The Chaotic Touch of Harmony 2....
Also...
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/320221/earth-ponies-are-overpowered